Report of the NEW ZEALAND PATTERN
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Report of the NEW ZEALAND PATTERN COMMITTEE (formerly New Zealand Graded Stakes Committee) Group & Listed Race Schedule for 2015/16 Season following Review of 2014/15 Season 21 SEPTEMBER 2015 CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 SECTION 1 - INTRODUCTION 4 – 5 SECTION 2 - HISTORY 6 SECTION 3 - OPERATING PROCEDURES 7 – 10 SECTION 4 - COMMENTS & RECOMMENDATIONS 11 – 12 SECTION 5 - SUMMARY 13 – 16 SECTION 6 - AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 17 – 21 CLASSIFICATIONS RACE RATINGS August 2015 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. The Graded Stakes Review for races run in the 2014-15 season has been completed by the Committee established for that purpose. The schedule of Group and Listed Races to be run in the 2015-16 season has now been confirmed. 2. The New Zealand Graded Stakes Committee is now known as the New Zealand Pattern Committee (NZPC) from 1 January 2012. The change was made to fall into line with international convention. 3. In the schedule of Black Type races for 2015-16, there have been seven changes made. The Waikato RC James & Annie Sarten Memorial S., Gr.3, Manawatu RC Manawatu Challenge S., Gr.3 and Auckland RC Westbury Classic, Gr.3 have been upgraded to Gr.2. The Wellington RC Anniversary H., L and Canterbury Racing South Island Thoroughbred Breeders’ S., L have been upgraded to Gr.3. The Taranaki RC Oaks Prelude, ungraded has been elevated to Listed status. The Hawke’s Bay RI Hawke’s Bay Cup, Gr.3 has been downgraded to Listed. 4. Under the revised schedule, the total number of Black Type flat races is 148, one more than last season. 5. This was the third year that the NZPC has operated under the new APC (Asian Pattern Committee) Ground Rules, which were approved by NZTR in consultation with the NZPC and the industry. As before, any race failing to attain the minimum race rating required in the last running is very likely to be issued with a warning, and in most cases a second warning will be issued if the minimum rating has not been achieved in the past two runnings. 6. Following clarification from the APC, it has been established that an extra fillies’ and mares’ allowance is applicable to race ratings for open-gender races where one or more females featured in the first four finishers. 7. There are currently 17 races with 1st warnings (21 last year) and 4 races with 2nd warnings (8 last year). 8. The ANZ Race Ratings used principally to evaluate race quality are appended as Section 6 of this Report. August 2015 3 SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 CONSTITUTION & CONVENTION The New Zealand Pattern Committee (NZPC) is constituted in Rule 506 of the Rules of Racing. It is an independent committee jointly convened by New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Inc. (NZTBA) and New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Inc. (NZTR). The secretariat of the NZPC is provided by NZTR. 1.2 COMPOSITION & SCHEDULE 1.2.1 The NZPC is comprised of eight voting members, viz. a Chairman who is appointed by NZTR after consultation with NZTBA, three nominees of NZTBA, three nominees of NZTR and one nominee of NZTBA to represent the thoroughbred auction companies. The personnel appointed to the Pattern Committee are expected to have the expertise and experience to exercise flexibility and discretion whilst continually maintaining a review of appropriate levels of Black Type opportunity for horses of different age, sex and aptitudes, throughout the total New Zealand racing scene. Committee appointments are made in December each year and take effect for the following calendar year. 1.2.2 The NZPC meets twice per year, usually in the third week of August when primary statistical data becomes available and (by teleconference) in early November to review the prestige jumping races. Each year the NZPC conducts a robust review of its procedures and criteria and holds a frank discussion of all matters considered relevant. 1.2.3 A NZPC member has a conflict of interest with respect to the review process when that member, or their spouse, partner or immediate family member, is an office-bearer or management employee of a New Zealand racing club or of an organisation currently sponsoring a black- type race. Any member having disclosed a conflict of interest will not be debarred from participating in any discussion during the review. If consensus amongst committee members is not apparent regarding a particular race under review and the Chairman calls for a vote, then any member having a conflict of interest relating to that race will forfeit their right to vote on that particular race and may be asked to leave the room during the voting process. 1.2.4 The NZPC for the past season comprised : Chairman: Mr Chas Amon, Auckland NZTR Nominees: Mr Bruce Sherwin, Cambridge Mr Neville McAlister, Wellington Mr Jeff McCall, Christchurch August 2015 4 NZTBA Nominees: Mr Michael Martin, Auckland Mr Andrew Stewart, Cambridge Mr Mark Freeman, Wellington Auction House: Mr Danny Rolston, Cambridge 1.3 OBJECTIVES & RESPONSIBILITIES The function of the NZPC is to annually review the best races in New Zealand for horses of different ages, gender and aptitudes and to produce a list of races worthy of black type status in sales catalogues in line with international standards, and to rate those races as (in descending order of importance) Gr.1, Gr.2, Gr.3 and Listed. Further, it is to produce a list of Prestige Jumping Races in NZ. It is the responsibility of the NZPC to conduct that review in a manner that conforms to international standards and utilises clear and consistent criteria. It also has a duty to communicate its findings in an Annual Report to be circulated to interested parties by the beginning of September each year. The NZPC must remain aware that the integrity and international credibility of our black type system is crucial to the national thoroughbred industry. The Committee makes recommendations to Clubs where it feels that the pattern of racing could be improved with the introduction of a particular type of race or races. 1.4 INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES The NZ list of black type races and their groupings is expected to conform to the APC Ground Rules drawn up by the Asian Pattern Committee. The list is then submitted through the Asian Racing Federation (ARF) to the International Grading and Race Planning Advisory Committee (IRPAC), who in turn recommends the list to be ratified by the Society of International Thoroughbred Auctioneers (SITA). The list is then published along with all other approved national lists in the annual International Cataloguing Standards and International Statistics booklet (“Blue Book”). Retention of New Zealand’s inclusion in Part One of the Blue Book is considered crucial to the national thoroughbred industry. 1.5 REVIEW PROCESS There is no appeal process available against the decisions of the Committee in respect of any race or races. However, application may be made to a Review Panel for a review of the Committee’s list as outlined under Rules 506 (9)-(12) of the NZ Rules of Racing. An application for a review does not apply in respect of a warning. August 2015 5 SECTION 2 HISTORY 2.1 BLACK TYPE Black type (or stakes) races are those that differentiate prestige races from others. The purpose of black-type races is to confer additional status (and therefore implied value) to the placegetters in those races. The first three finishers in designated black type races receive bold typeface in sales catalogue pedigrees. The appearance of black type in catalogues had its origins in North American catalogues in the 1950s. It was first adopted outside of North America by New Zealand in 1970. In the early 1970s Europe adopted the black-type system for their pattern races and other countries followed. 2.2 GROUP DESIGNATIONS Black type races are rated (in descending order of importance) with the designators Gr.1, Gr.2, Gr.3 and Listed. Group designators grew out of the European Pattern Race System in the early 1970s. It was quickly adopted in North America and then gradually adopted throughout the rest of the thoroughbred world, including New Zealand in 1984-85. 2.3 INTERNATIONAL UNIFORMITY In 1981 the International Cataloguing Standards Committee (ICSC) was formed to oversee the publication (Blue Book) of all lists of black type races worldwide and promote uniformity of standards. In 2007 ICSC transferred responsibility for this role to IRPAC. In 2012 the APC assumed an overseeing governance role over all the domestic graded stakes jurisdictions in the ARF region, including N.Z. 2.4 NEW ZEALAND DEVELOPMENTS New Zealand’s black type races were determined initially by the senior pedigree compiler at the then sole auction house. From about the mid-1970s the task was done by a committee of representatives of NZTBA, the auction house and the New Zealand Racing Conference (NZRC), the predecessor of NZTR. The Committee was overseen by NZRC. In 1995, a complete review of the process was undertaken, resulting in the current structure of the NZPC being implemented. In 2012, the Committee was renamed from New Zealand Graded Stakes Committee to New Zealand Pattern Committee. 2.5 REGISTERED RACENAMES In 2001, Registered Racenames were introduced to enable a race to be identified over a period of years, regardless of the changes that may be made to its raceday name. The Registered Racenames provide the historical link to the current racename and sponsor. The APC also prescribes that all Group races must have a permanent element within the racename. August 2015 6 SECTION 3 OPERATING PROCEDURES 3.1 INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS The NZPC compares New Zealand’s list of black type races to those of other countries in Part 1 of the Blue Book in order to ensure the international credibility of the black type in our sales catalogues.